Democrats float 14th Amendment to bar Trump from office

[babylonsister]

Democrats float 14th Amendment to bar Trump from office
By Jordain Carney - 01/22/21 04:25 PM EST


Democrats are mulling whether they can use the 14th Amendment to prevent former President Trump from ever holding office again.

The discussions are in the early stages — and top members of the Senate caucus aren’t yet convinced it’s a viable remedy — but senators are exploring their options as they plot a strategy after Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol.

“It’s an idea that’s out there that I think people are contemplating in the accountability space,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who described himself as “quite confident” that Congress could act under the constitutional amendment.

“I just want us to choose a path that maximizes focus on the Biden-Harris agenda,” Kaine added.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who caveated that talk of the 14th Amendment was hypothetical, said it could be applied to Trump, with one mechanism being a resolution from Congress.

more...

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/535467-democrats-float-14th-amendment-to-bar-trump-from-office

[msfiddlestix]

1. Good to read the 14th is at least being contemplated out loud.

[sop]

2. Let the GOP float the 14th Amendment, they're the ones who will benefit by preventing Trump

from turning the '24 presidential primaries into another circus if he runs again

[brewens]

3. I'm not so sure we should ban him from holding office again. That would prevent him from running

again. But I was already wrong once about what his chances would be. I can't imagine him even being in any condition to be able to run in four years, but I guess it wouldn't be four years, that could start any day. It could also help us in the mid term elections if Trump was already stinking things up.

[StarfishSaver]

5. No. Nope.

This was the attitude among too many people in 2015 and 2016. We should know by now that we do NOT let a despot like Trump anywhere near the White House again. As we saw in 2016, circumstances can align again and result in him stumbling back in.

I agree with you that he's not likely to run again and if he does, he'll crash and burn. But we need to do everything we can to keep him as far away from the White House as possible.

[StarfishSaver]

4. I don't see how this can be invoked without Trump being convicted of the crime of insurrection

It would violate the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause, the separation of powers, and the bill of attainder clause for Congress to be able to disqualify a president outside of the impeachment process because it declared him guilty of a crime of which he had not been convicted.

It could be possible, as Professor Hemel suggests in the article, for Congress to set up a method for conducing judicial proceedings that would determine if someone was disqualified under the 14th Amendment.